Article Distribution or Press Release Distribution: Which is better for search marketing?-00-1076
Despite being one of the most commonly asked questions I get from clients, it doesn't have a straightforward answer. The truth is neither one is better than the other. The just have different purposes. In fact you should not get article marketing confused with media release marketing.
Although excellent copywriting is essential to press release and article distribution alike. Both can contain your keywords for Search Engine Marketing purposes, but the similarity between article marketing and press release marketing ends there.
Article Marketing is the practice of distributing well-written articles to article directories with the desire of having those articles syndicated by or reprinted on other websites and blogs. Because of this, article marketing helps with building link popularity. Article marketing can also assist with branding you as an expert in your field and can bring traffic to your website if readers find the article useful.
Press releases ,on the other hand, are written to announce something newsworthy. Press releases are distributed to news websites, news agencies, newsletters, and blogs. Often times, releases are distributed directly to media professionals as a way to pitch a story. But they are not the same as an article.
Nowadays, I often see media releases aren't newsworthy at all however. People are using press release distribution to send out articles. They have article marketing and press releases all mixed up.
I read media releases that sound like a sales pitch all the time. The media release is not a place for self-promotion. Believe me, news editors know the difference. Publishers could be redistributing your media release to a wider audience. But if they don't find your story newsworthy or feel that you are trying to sell something, he will just trash your release.
A true media release will read like something you would read in a newspaper. So it must tell a story. It could be about a merger, an acquisition, a partnership, or a new website launched. But keep in mind that the idea of a press release isn't to simply get people to republish the story, it's to get in the news. An effective media release will land you interviews.
You can summarize the difference between article marketing and media release marketing by the reasons you SEO them and the reason you distribute them. Press releases are distributed to bring coverage to your company and are optimized so that the release itself can be found, which can bring traffic to your site and build backlinks. Articles, on the other hand, are distributed to establish the authority of your business and are optimized to help build link popularity so that your main website can be found.
Both should be important aspects of acompanies overall public relations strategy.
About the Author
This article was written by Wes Upchurch for PressDr.com. PressDr is an expert provider of press release distribution and article distribution services.
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